Rinse the tomatoes well and slice them. Slit or chop green chilies. Crush and peel the garlic cloves.

Pour oil to a pan and heat if on a medium heat. Add chana dal and urad dal or peanuts. Fry them until light golden. Add cumin seeds and dried red chilies.

Fry until the chilies turn crisp for about 30 to 40 seconds. Add the green chilies, garlic and curry leaves. Fry them until the curry leaves turn crisp and the green chilies are blistered. (If you use peanuts, make sure they are roasted well until aromatic and remove all the roasted ingredients to a plate and set aside)

Add tomatoes, salt and turmeric. Stir fry for 2 mins and cook covered on a medium to low heat until soft and mushy. If the pan is too dry you may sprinkle some water.

Optional - If your tomatoes are tangy you may leave out using tamarind. Soak tamarind in 3 to 4 tablespoons of water and keep aside. When it softens, squeeze with your fingers to extract the juice.

Once the tomatoes are soft, mushy and completely cooked, taste test this and add tamarind only if required (about 1 tsp extract). Turn off the heat and cool this mixture.

Keep aside some of the dried/green chilies. Add the rest of the cooled mixture/ingredients along with coriander leaves to a grinder or blender. Grind on a pulse mode to make a slightly coarse chutney.

Taste test and add more salt, tamarind or chilies (that we set aside) to suit your taste. Transfer to a serving bowl.

Pour ghee or oil to a small pan and heat it on a medium flame. Add mustard, chana dal, urad dal and garlic. When the lentils turn golden, add red chili, curry leaves and hing.

Pour this over the green tomato chutney.